Vacuum heating system.



No) 874,113. PATBNTBD A111:0. 17, 1907.

` f 0.10..PE0K.

VACUUM HEATINGSYSTBM.

' APPLICATION IVILED SEPT. 24,1908.

V I m WITNESSES INvENToR: U

NUNITED sTTEs PATENT A OEEIOE.

oAssrUs CARROLL rEcK, OE EOcnEsTER, NEW YORK.

` VACUUM HEATING- SYSTEM.

To all whom it ma'y concern: 'i

Be it knownthat I, Cassius CARROLL PEOK, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Rochester, in the county of -Monroe and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Vacuum Heating System, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of steam heating apparatus in which a vacuum is employed in connectionwith the return end of the lheating circuit to remove air and water as' fast as they accumulate, vand thereby to `reduce the amount of initial vapor tension required for effecting circulation through the system, and insurean even and complete circulation. l

It consists primaril in establishing a definite ratio between va ve .openings in the returns from the radiators, and certain radiatsurfaces' that are located between said va ves and a vacuum pump, oran equivalent device.

The object particularl in view is to ob- -v viate the need of a specia form of automatic,

iioat-operated valve now in use, that is comparatively expensive. p

vso

In the drawingszMFigurelis a central,

vertical section of the valve that is one ofrny improvements; andFig. 2 shows in elevation a steam heating system equipped with my improvements.

VIn the'drawings, arrows,feathered on both sides indicate the low of steam; those feathered Yon one side indicate the iiow of air; and unieathered arrows indicate Vthe flow of water. The'compound valve 1 is designed for Vconnection with the return end of onefoi the primary radiators'of the heating system by the female thread. Water of condensation, which forms in and flows out of theJ radiator,

settles in the chamber 3, and there deposits' solid matter that is carried by the water to this point, such as scales for example. The main opening 4 of the valve is located nearly on a level with the duct that connects it with the radiator, in order to keep the radiatorY fully drained at all times. The valve head 5, whichcloses on seat 6, has a relatively small central opening 7, into which lits a pointed stem 8. Thisstem has a stu'l'lingbox 9, and a screw thread 1() by which the point at thelower end is made to enter hole 7 more or less, when the stem is turned. The main valve4 has a stem 11, provided with a screw `thread 12. It passes through a stuffing-box 13, and is provided with a head 14 Specification of Letters Patent. y

Application filed September 24:.r 1906. Serial No. 335.980.

patented Dec. 17, 19o?.

for conveniently screwing it up and down. Cap 14a is attachedl to stem 11 so that the stem 8 cannot be` meddled with after it has been set with reference to the opening 7. Normally the main valve 5 is closed, and the auxiliaryvalve 8 is open so that the air and water pass through the 'opening 7. But when it is desired to ill a large radiator quicklywith steam, vor to blow out sediment, the main valve is opened without disturbing the auxiliary valve.

Boiler 15 supplies steam through valved pipe 16 tothe engine 17, and exhaust steam may be used for the heating system through valved pipe 18; or said, system may be supplied directly from the boiler through valved pipe 19, in which a pressure reducing valve `ber"30), discharges air into the branch pipe 28 and water into the branch 29, the air passing frompipe 28 through the secondary,.

or auxiliary radiator 31. 'lhe return pi e 32 from this radiator 31.goes to the air an water separating chamber 33, Jfrom which the air branch 34 leads to the upper part of receiver 35, and water branch 341L leads to theA bottom of said receiver.

36 is'a vacuum pumpl operated by live steam from the boiler 15 through valved pipe 37, and has its suction pipe 38 connected'to the vapor space in the upperportion of receiver 35, which space occupies about onehalf of the receiver, as indicated by Water line 39, The air from this pump is preferably discharged into the atmosphere as shown at 40, though it'ma'y be discharged through a radiator. p Water pump 41 is operated by live steam through valved pipe 42 from boiler 15. It is Aconnected Wlth the water space of receiver 35, and discharges water therefrom through pipe 43 into the boiler, or elsewhere.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: In starting, live steam is iirst turned into the vacuum pump 36 through the valve in pipe 37, so as tostartthe and I` usual one of apump and receiver. Itis gen move air as fully. 21S plotlo'b QTOIII all the erally desirable that vacuum pump 36 shall ipes and radiators of the heating `circuit.

hen this has been accomplished andthe desired [degree of vacuum-usually four inches'A to eight inches, depending upon extent of the heating system-is indicated on gage 44 (which is connected into return pipe 32) steam is admitted to the main supply pipe 23 ofthe heating circuit, either through exhaust pipe 18, or through live steam pipe 19,

by opening the proper controlling valve. The partial vacuum whichexists in radiators 25 and 31, and in connecting pipes, allows steam to iill rapidly the supply pipes, return pipes and. such radiators' as have their supply valves 24L open. As steam cndenses in radiators 25 the water of condensation iiows out by gravity, aided by the vacuum in the return pipes, through valves 1, passing through holes 7 (see Fig. l). ,The point of the valve stern 8 is so adjusted that all water of condensation passes out of each radiator, together with such air as comes into the radiators with the steam. The fixed opening" also allows a small amount of steam .s to-passinto the branch return pipe 26, and thencetoV the main return 27, andthe seclwater branch pipey 29.

ondary `radiator 31. The purposeY of. the

latter is to condense, as far'as possible, all this steam which passes valves-hand thus to prevent steam from reaching the vacuum pump 36 in excessive amount, which Would make'v it necessary to run the pump at high speed, in order to maintain the. desired degree of vacuum-in' the returnpipes, and

would also cause an objectionable amount of hot vapor-to be discharged from the pump.` For separating air and .water as it flows through the secondary radiator 31, a separa' tor 30 may be employed, Yand located in the From this separator the water is drained either through the bottom of -said auxiliary radiatorr-31 or around it, as shown by valved pipe-32.a while the air and stearrr'pass through pipeY 28, and thence entirely-fill and pass through the radiator'3l.

- pump 41 automatically removes the water.

This separator 30 is not, however, necessary,

for an ordinary pipe tee willanswer instead.

After circulating through the secondary radiator 31, air, water and uncondens'ed steam, all 'flow through fpipe 32 into chamber 3 3, which latter is pre rably, but not necessarily, adapted to separate the air'from thev water in order that the air may freely circu-y late through pipe 34 into the 'top' of -receiver 35, and the water through pipe 34a`into the bottom 4of said receiver. Finally, the air pump 36 discharges' from the receiver all air and vapor that enters it, and the Y'water The steam valve of the pump is controlled by a float in the receiver which doesznot permit the Water to rise in it above a predetermined level, the arrangement being the .be controlled by a vacuum governor 45, so

that the right degree of vacuum shall be 'steadily and automatically' maintained in pump-as it is needed to keep upthe prev.scribed amount of vacuum. Vaporv tension in supplypipe 23 is indicated by a gage 46.- For drainingvsteam supply pipe .23, a valve 1a, like valves 1, is shownin a drain pipe be tween pipe 23 and pipe 32,'"which latter constitutes a continuation of pipe 27 from radiator 31 to separator Port 4 of said valve will in this connection be normally` closed, and port 7- ope'ned only to theextent needful for discharging water of condensation which collects in pipe 23 into pipe 32.

Some heatingl systems with long runs of piping will re uire higher vacuum than small systems in vghich the runs are short, and where water of condensation must be lifted, the. necessary degree of vacuumv required must be provided in the heating circuit.. Having determined the amount of vacuum suitable for any system, the next thing is to determine the proper proportion of secondary radiation (represented by indirectA radiator 31).l This must be determined with reference to the number of valves 1 and the size of the opening 7 in these valves. -The size of the openings 7 are determined for each radiator by the square feet of radiating surface which it contains, the valve stem 8 of each valve being set vso as to allo-W the esc-ape of all air and waterfwith as little steam as possible. Obviously the larger the amount of radiation connected to each valve the larger must'be the opening 7 in each valve, and consequently the greater will be the amount of secondary radiation required to condense the escaping steam. Having determined the proper adjustment Aof the' valve stem 8, it need not be changed, unless for the purpose of clearing some obstructionfrom the opening 7.

As before stated, if steam yescapes into the .return conduit and is allowed to reach the vacuum pump, it will put an extra load upon the pump, Aand it is to avoid this that an been connectedinto the drain pipe of each radiator of a heating system, the automatic action in draining water and closing against steam usually dependingeither on a iioat, or else lonexpansion and contraction of some substance under influence of changes ottem- Vautomatic valve of, some kind has heretofore l.-

perature. But my improved system accomplishes the same results by means of a simpler valve that is -permanently open, and at the same timeutilizes the escaping steam.

Valve 1 shownn the drawings is typical. It may be of any form that has an adjustable opening from the radiator tothe return pipe v 'l0 tain that degreev of`rareiaction of the air in,

4! -nation of asupply conduit, one ormore ra diators, and ya ,separate return conduit steam. consistent with keeping the radiator.'

oi such size thatit will pass all air and water.

from the radiator with-the least amount of drained as described.. In carrying out my `'system oi vacuum heating, I do not coniine myself -to the devices which are herein shown and described for the purpose of illustration, for `its novel features can vbe .em-

bodied in variously constructed mechanism. It is obvious that it is important to maine the return conduit, for which the valve stem Sshallbe adjusted, iorif it is allowed to change materially, the opening 7 ywill no longer be adapted for the satisfactory operation oi the system. y Q

Vhat I claim is f. 1. In a steam heating'system the com bination of-a supply conduit, one or more radiators, anda return conduit; a return pipe lfrom each radiator; a valve in lsaid pipe having a permanentlyopen passage of only sufficient size vto keep each radiaton` drained of air and water, and adapted for such drainage; means for regulating" the steam supply .to said radiator ;and means for maintaining-a rarefaction oi air in the return'conduit at a uniform degre'e, said re-l turn conduit embracingl a secondaryradiator between said valves and the rareying means.

2. In a steam heating system the combi-` nation of a supply conduit, one or more radiators, anda return conduit; a drainagevalve for each radiator, each having a cham; ber'adapted to receive air and water from the radiator, and a permanently open passage for'them b'oth from said chamber tothe reL turn conduit; means for regulating the flow of air' and water to the return conduit; and means for maintaining a rarefaction'of air in said return conduit at a uniform degree, said conduit embracing a secondary radiator be# tween the rarefying means andsaid valves.

3. In a steam heating system the combination of a supplyconduit, one or more radiators, anda return conduit; a valve be tween each radiator and the return conduit, having a chamber adapted to receive air and water from the radiator, and a permanently o`pen passage for them both from saidpchamber to the return conduit; means for regulating the flow of air and water from the radiator; a separator in the return conduit adapted to separate air and steam from the water vinsaid return conduit and means for main taining a rarefaction of air in the return conduijt ata uniform degree, saidconduit embracing a secondary radiator between said jvalves; ,theurarefying means.

a-steam heating system the combi ports and connected with them by a valve the head `of which is adapted to close a rela'-` tively lar'ge' opening, and having a small valve inthe head means for raising and lowcarriedby the main valvestem and adapted to open and close the valve opening through the valveliead. f

5. In a steam heating system, the combination of a supply-conduit, one or more radiators, a return conduit, a return pipe from each radiator, a valve `in the pipe "having a permanently open passage of only sufficient size to keep each radiator drained of air and water, means vfor regulating the steam supply to said radiators, and means formain taininga rarefaction ci air in the return conduit at a uniform degree, said return conduit embracing a condenser between said valves and the rare'fyinglmeans. i 4

CASSIUS CARROLL PECK.

.conduit and ea'ch primary radiator; a valve -in said pipe having an inlet ort and an ou .let port nearly on the same evel, a chamber forzwater o nxthe 'inlet side and below. said ,ering said valve head, and'an'adjustable st'em 

